As part of final vehicle assembly, different styles and configurations of interior trim elements are attached to portions of a vehicle, for example to an inner surface of the passenger cabin doors, to an A-pillar passenger cabin-facing surface, and others. Such trim elements hide unattractive interior workings of vehicle components, and present an attractive and finished appearance to the consumer.
Certain pillar trim pieces, for example A-pillar upper trim pieces, have portions that are substantially unconstrained due to their geometry and therefore prone to deflection events such as rocking and rotation. This is conventionally addressed by modifying the attachment scheme of the trim part or by adding stand-off features molded in the trim part.
However, in certain vehicles the disposition of surrounding components and/or the trim piece-to-sheet-metal distance does not admit of in-molded stand-off features that prevent rocking/rotation of all portions of a vehicle trim piece. In such situations, all degrees of freedom of movement of the trim piece may not be constrained, affecting consumer perception of part quality.
This is illustrated in FIG. 1, showing a portion of a vehicle 100 including an A-pillar 110 and a section of an A-pillar upper trim piece 120. As shown, even when a molded-in stand-off feature 130 is included in the A-pillar upper trim piece 120, a portion 140 of the upper trim piece 120 is unconstrained, and may potentially rock or rotate.
This rocking/rotation of the trim piece is exacerbated in conditions of high temperature such as are often encountered in a vehicle interior when the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system is not operating. This is because the materials often used for trim components lose structural rigidity under such conditions. Such trim components will rock/rotate more under such conditions (compared to room temperature) even at application of a same torque value.
Thus, a need is identified in the art for structures to reduce or eliminate such pillar trim piece rocking/rotation.